Meeting Boyd's Mother
by elsiecarson
Summary: Grace and Boyd are in a relationship and the time has come for Grace to meet Boyd's mother. Boyd is nervous which is not helping Grace at all. Worse still, Boyd's mother has invited them to stay for the weekend. Boyd is praying for an urgent case to come up!
1. Are You Alright?

Boyd sighs as he turns onto the street his mother lives on. He's introducing Grace to his mother today.

"Are you alright, Boyd?" Grace asks as she covers Boyd's hand gently with hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Grace. Just a little nervous. The last woman I introduced to my mother was Mary and that didn't go well." Boyd sounds frustrated already.

"I'll be on my very best behaviour. I promise." Grace leans over and kisses Boyd's cheek.

"It's not you I'm worried about. It's her. She tends to get hostile around the women I like." Boyd says honestly.

"She can't intimidate me. I'm not going to back down. You and I have fought hard to get where we are. Your mother won't control our future." Grace says firmly.

"Good, I'll stand behind you all the way. Let's go." Boyd says as he gets out of the car.

Grace tucks her hand into the crook of Boyd's arm. Boyd makes her feel safe. Boyd smiles down at Grace as they approach Boyd's mother's house. "I'll be alright Boyd."


	2. Introductions

Boyd takes a deep breath before he knocks on the front door. "Hello mum." Boyd says as his mother opens the front door.

"Well, it took you long enough to come in from the car, Timothy. Come in and bring your girlfriend with you. We have lots to talk about." Boyd's mother hugs him fiercely.

Boyd rolls his eyes at Grace. He hates that his mother still calls him by his middle name. "Mum, this is my partner, Grace Foley. Grace this is my mother, Jean." Boyd takes his coat off and Grace's and hangs them in the front closet.

"How do you do Mrs Boyd? It's a pleasure to meet you. Boyd has told me a lot about you." Grace says politely. She holds her hand out for Mrs Boyd to shake.

"It's good to meet you too, Grace, but you don't have to lie to me. I know my son doesn't talk about me. We'll have to get to know each other without his help. He's told me a little but about you." Jean Boyd teases both Grace and her son.

Boyd puts his hand on Grace's lower back and steers her into the living room. "Come and sit down, mum. We should talk the three of us together."


	3. Talking About Work

"You look tired, Timothy." Jean says as she sits down across from her son and Grace.

"We've been working hard, mum. We've solved lots of cases recently. We've been very successful." Boyd tells his mother.

"Did you meet Grace at work? You've mentioned her in a professional capacity a few times. What is it you do, Grace?" Jean asks as she pours three cups of tea.

"I'm a forensic psychologist. I do the psychological profiles of suspects for Boyd when he chooses to listen which is rarely." Grace tells Jean.

"So, you did meet her at work then." Jean eyes her son suspiciously.

"No, we didn't meet at work. Grace and I met at a pub at a party. We got talking about work and when I was asked to start the CCU I immediately thought about Grace as the profiler for the unit." Boyd explains to his mother. Boyd sips his tea that his mother poured. He puts his arm around Grace's shoulders and lets her lean closer to him.

Grace tries to relax, but she's finding it difficult with Boyd's mother sitting across from them watching her every move.


	4. Is This Serious?

"How serious is this relationship, Timothy? You haven't brought anyone to meet us since you brought Mary here." Jean asks looking sternly at her son.

"This is very serious to me. We've taken a long time to get to this point, but Grace and I are very determined to get this to work. She has gotten me through my very darkest days. She was able to pull me out of some of my worst moods. She can get me to talk to her and I don't talk easily." Boyd says seriously.

"Mrs Boyd, I will be perfectly honest with you. Your son isn't easy to deal with on a day to day basis, but we've gotten to a point where we're comfortable with each other. We can talk and vent to each other with no fear of retribution. We can express our emotions to each other more than I ever thought possible. We still have our moments where we lose our tempers with each other because we're so passionate about our jobs." Grace says as she smiles at Boyd. It's clear that Mrs Boyd is pressing her son for very serious details about their relationship. She and Boyd have both been very quiet about their relationship. She wants Mrs Boyd to know how much she cares about her son.

Boyd reaches for Grace's hand and holds it gently in his lap. "Please don't push her too hard, mum. It's taken us so long to get to this point and I don't want Grace to pull away from me now."

Jean Boyd looks suspiciously at her son. "You haven't been like this for a long time. You are very passionate about her. I can tell. Grace, I don't know how you've dealt with him all this time."

"Some days I wonder too, but he's a good man and that's all that matters to me." Grace says seriously.

"This isn't a relationship that came about because of money is it, Timothy?" Jean Boyd asks her son.

"Well, it certainly can't be on her part since Grace makes more money than I do with her royalties from her books and her fees from her speaking engagements. This is not convenient for us. It something we thought and talked about a great deal. Don't suppose Grace is like that at all. I don't like the insinuation you're making about her at all." Boyd can feel his temper rising.

Grace puts her hand over Boyd's to calm him. "It's alright, Boyd. She's just concerned about you."

"You've been through a lot, Timothy. I want you to be happy. I'm concerned about you. You're my son and I will always worry about you." Jean says gently.

"God, you sound like Grace. She's always saying how much she worries about me. She's always trying to get me to talk about my feelings. At least I've been able to teach her when it's okay to talk and when she should shut up." Boyd sighs heavily. He runs his fingers through his hair.


	5. So Awkward!

Grace yawns and leans against Boyd's shoulder. Boyd leans back into the couch cushions and draws Grace with him. He knows she's very tired after solving most recent case. He closes his eyes for a moment.

"You two look tired. Timothy why don't you take Grace up to the spare room? You look like you could use a nap. I'm going to make some lunch for us." Jean says sweetly.

"We're alright really. Usually Saturdays are pretty quiet for us. Why don't I help you with lunch and Boyd can take the bags upstairs?" Grace pats Boyd's shoulder.

"That would be lovely. I made all of Timothy's favourite things. So, why don't we head into the kitchen and get working on lunch and we'll let Timothy do the heavy lifting." Jean suggests.

Boyd gives Grace a look as she follows his mother. It's a look that says don't let her interrogate or ambush you. Grace can always read Boyd's expressions fairly easily. She can't help but be nervous about being along with Jean. She remembers when she met her ex-husband's family and how disastrous that was. She secretly hopes Boyd won't be long and he can rescue her if things start going very wrong.

"So, Grace, how is it working and dating Timothy?" Jean asks the moment they get into the kitchen.

Grace immediately freezes. Of all the questions for Jean to ask, that's one of the more difficult ones to answer mostly because half of the time at work she'd like to smack him. "Well... we try not to bring our work home with us." Grace carefully words her answer.

"Something tells me Timothy doesn't make that easy." Jean interjects.

Grace doesn't want to throw Boyd under the bus this early in the conversation, but she doesn't know what to say. Boyd's temper is legendary around the Yard and he doesn't make it easy to work with him, but it's mostly because he's so determined and Grace doesn't feel as if it's fair for him to get in trouble from his mother for being a tough boss. She also knows she's stalling, but right now she doesn't want to start off on the wrong foot with Jean or have Boyd mad at her. Please, she thinks, please let Boyd come in here soon and get me out of this.


End file.
